Monday, May 15, 2006

For everything else, there's Mastercard

Rabbits.



They don't seem like particularly troublesome pets, now do they?

I have posted about our two rabits before, their fighting and needing to be desexed. Well we went through all the worry and expense of the operations to have them desexed, and they are still fighting. It takes a few weeks for the testosterone to get out of their little systems, but after 4 weeks we thought it was time to re-introduce them.

We did everything according to the book. We had kept them seperated but still able to see and smell each other so as not to "un-bond". We took them into a neutral environment to reintroduce them, and we held them next to each other peacefully. Then we let them go.

You know the Tasmanian Devil in the Warner Bros cartoons? The one that spins around so fast he is a blur? That's what we had. Bunny Blur, with tufts of fur flying everywhere.

In the process, the previously peaceloving Francis (in self-defence quite possibly) ripped an inch into Marcel's ear.

So the end of his ear is ripped half-off, and their is blood everywhere.

I frantically called the vet, only to be told that they closed at midday (it was 2pm), and there would be a RMB1000 (AU$160) out-of-hours emergency fee. Knowing that we had no choice, we bundled Marcel up and took him to the vet for his second ever anesthetic and operation, at a grand total of RMB1870 (AU$303)!

Now I have to force feed him antibiotics twice a day with a (needle-less) syringe in his mouth. Which he HATES, and Phil and I have the scratch marks up and down our arms to prove it. If anyone has any tips on how to medicate your rabbits, PLEASE let me know!


Rabbits: $100
Food: $20/month
Desexing: $325
Emergency Vet Bill: $303
The feeling you get when they snuggle into the crook of your arm for a pat: Priceless.....


...Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go sell one of my kidneys to pay for the vet bill.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't have any tips on how to medicate rabbits but if it was Hercules you wouldn't have had any problems since he was fed with a syringe!

Maybe you should try feeding him something nice tasting with the syringe first.

Liz

Anonymous said...

Get a dog!!!

Anonymous said...

I agree!!!

...instead of selling only one of our kidneys lets sell all four of them in a package deal! Get a house (instead of a small apartment) and a field (intead of the hallway to the elevator) and get some real dogs (instead of those miniature-squashed-faced things they call dogs 'roud here!).

And Lou when you say "priceless" for the bunny hug, now, is that before of after they scratch the hell out of your armpit?

Louise said...

Ah yes, cute but troublesome...